Hotels for a honeymoon in Rome/Venice?

December 18, 2006 2:37 AM

Hotels for a honeymoon in Rome/Venice?

In July 2007 me and my (by then) wife will be going to Rome/Venice on honeymoon. We're planning on 4 nights in Rome and 2 nights in Venice. I'm looking for suggestions for hotels in both that are 'honeymoon worthy' (ie not a hostel and having some class) but that won't be totally out of our price range. We've scoured tripadvisor and expedia but hopefully a MeFite out there knows a hidden gem or two. We can probably afford +- EUR 170 a night. Preferably centrally located in both cities.

posted by PenDevil to travel & transportation (14 comments total)

When I was in Venice this past summer, I stayed at the All'Angelo Hotel. The included breakfast was great (obviously though, just a cold continental breakfast), it's a FANTASTIC location literally two minutes from St Mark's Square, but quiet in a little side alley. The only problem I had with it was that our room was being renovated, and was thus in a bit of a state of disarray, with a shitty little stand-up A/C unit that didn't do much to improve the temperature in the room. We complained at the front desk and got moved to the apartments that they have across the street. The apartment was HUGE, even quieter, and didn't have any issues with A/C. If you can get into the apartments for the same price as a regular room (we did), it's TOTALLY worth it.
posted by antifuse at 3:39 AM on December 18, 2006

If you can stretch to it then the top rated Venice B&B on Tripadvisor is really what the reviews say it is. I went there on my honeymoon!
posted by markdj at 3:52 AM on December 18, 2006

As far as Rome, I don't have any specific places but I would advise you to avoid the city center. Try to find a place over in Trastevere (West of the river). It's hip and less expensive. There are affordable classy rooms and it is still close enough to the center of town where all the sights are, but not completely overrun with tourists. You will find more local haunts over there and more of the sort of sane prices that they are willing to pay.

Also, I would seriously rethink the time of year you visit. Middle of June until end of July is crazy. It is way too hot and the tourists and pickpockets are out of control. Restaurants and hotels jack up their prices for the tourists and it could be made miserable due to the general lack of AC in Italy. Don't go in August because the city shuts down. Everybody splits to get away from the heat. May or September are the best months to visit. But if all of that doesn't bother you and that is the only time you can visit, by all means do it. It is an amazing city.
posted by chillmost at 4:06 AM on December 18, 2006

B+Bs are really cool; Berlusconi got rid of the pensione system, and the country's really had money to invest in B+Bs. Try http://www.venere.com/
posted by DenOfSizer at 7:04 AM on December 18, 2006

Totally agree with the poster who says think about the time of your visit, too. BTW, Bologna's really cool, and close to Venice. WAY less crazy.
posted by DenOfSizer at 7:05 AM on December 18, 2006

July is the only option for us and we're pretty much set on Rome/Venice.
posted by PenDevil at 8:24 AM on December 18, 2006

For my wedding I'll probably stay in the Hotel Santa Maria in Trastevere, central (to Trstvr) and yet on a quiet street through a leafy gate. Website pictures show it to be a bit dowdy, but it also appears to be eminently charming.

Venice tip: come in at night, and take the vaporetto down the canal to wherever you stay. The buildings will be illuminated from the front, and the dark will make it all into a magical fairy-boat trip that should favorably color the rest of your stay despite any annoyances about the heat.
posted by xueexueg at 10:37 AM on December 18, 2006

(Definitely check the archives, too, especially for the Venice hotels. I remember a fair number of recommendations coming up over the years.)
posted by occhiblu at 10:49 AM on December 18, 2006

Stay a week in Rome, but take a day trip to Venice. Find and rent your own apartment through Craig's list. If you are interested in Florence email me, because I know someone that rented an apartment there recently.
posted by xammerboy at 11:28 AM on December 18, 2006

I worked as a tourguide in Venice for a little over a year. Most of my (English-speaking) tourists either loved the city or really hated it; there are certain people who will claim there's nothing to do in the city at all, and many many others (myself included) who could spend years there and not exhaust the city.

If y'all want to go there, please just ignore the people who will tell you again and again that you won't like it. Everyone should go and discover it for themselves. It can be totally magical, even in the midst of the July heat and crowds -- Venice has been a city founded on tourism since about 1400, so there's no reason to be disdainful of it being crowded these days.

Also, congratulations on the wedding, and buon viaggio!
posted by occhiblu at 12:01 PM on December 18, 2006

I totally agree with occhiblu - I didn't live in Venice (unless you count a week as 'living there'!), but definitely found it a bit... well, boring. But then, I go to Italy for ancient culture, and Venice is, of course, Renaissance & up. But, that said, it is gorgeous - flat-out, drop-dead gorgeous, and the most romantic place I've ever seen (though most of Tuscany is a close second). I can't think of a more ideal place to go on a honeymoon!

I didn't have the Euros to spend on a nice hotel while I was there, but www.venere.com is quite reliable and has a nice array of hotel reviews. You can also contrast their reviews against www.tripadvisor.com.

buona fortuna, e buon viaggio!
posted by AthenaPolias at 12:08 PM on December 18, 2006

i honeymooned in venice in mid-july, and had a wonderful time. i hope you will too!

my husband booked us into a hotel on lido, which was a little further out of the daily hustle and bustle of venice, where we got a nicer hotel for our money, as well as some much welcomed peace and quiet away from the crowds at the end of the day. there are regular water taxis, so getting around was easy.

july is pretty hot - i'd recommend that you try to get a hotel that has air conditioning.
posted by netsirk at 12:18 PM on December 18, 2006

Re: Rome

My expertise in accomodation lies on the extreme budget end of things, so I fear my suggestions aren't appropriate for a honeymoon. But I would like to provide a counterpoint to a few things said here.

July is one of the more crowded times of year. Heat I can't help you with as I grew up in Texas and actually like sweating.

July is also in the middle of this thing that's called in our language 'high season,' which is why accommodation prices rise. It's very similar to why airlines raise their prices during holidays: demand is high, supply is low. Simple economics, not some random urge to jack tourists out of money. That said, to avoid restaraunts that prey on tourists:

- avoid ones that have an English version of the menu and carry a decent pocket phrasebook
- Note how many locals are eating there. If the number is even or outweighs the visitors, the above rule can be ignored. This rule might be difficult to apply before the hour of 8pm; that's when the dinner/going out hour really begins even if the restaraunts open around 6-ish.
- See uniformed officers eating there? Ditto.
- Don't eat the lasagna unless you're at somebody's house and their mother made it.
- Fish is usually freshest on Tuesdays and Fridays. Gnocchi on Thursdays.

Unless we're talking about pensione as in everyone's pension funds, I don't think Berlusconi had a direct hand in the elimination of the pensione as a type of accomodation license. Licencing and requirements are handled on a city level. For example, Rome has just done away with the B&B, meaning no new B&B's will be popping up.

Trastevere is in the city center. It is a rione or zone which forms the central Municipio I or the the First Municipality of the City of Rome. As far as rione go, it's right next to the the group of rioni that make up the area of the centro storico (historical center) with the heavist concentration of sightseeing points of interest and right below Vatican city. From Trastevere, it would take me 45 minutes to walk to the Termini central train station, which is on the other/far side of the centro storico. It would take me about the same walking from Vatican.

Trastevere is a lovely little area, but it is no longer as cheap and as typically Roman as it used to be. There's very few of the original inhabitants and has become the new 'American ghetto' due to many expats and FAO employees paying hand over fist for the quaint apartments as well as all the guide books screaming it's praises out to the heavens. It has become it's own zona di traffico limitato (limited trafic zone) due to it's popularity - only drivers who are residents of the area are permitted during certain hours to help reduce smog and traffic snarls.

It's still a lovely place for an evening stroll (during the weekdays if you don't like crowds) and there's still a decent concentration of restaraunts with good value for money.

Have a great time, buon viaggio e auguri!
posted by romakimmy at 12:39 PM on December 18, 2006

Oh, and for the people saying "Don't go, it's too hot" - I was in Venice in August last year, and it was GORGEOUS. But then, I suppose I was homesick for my scorching Toronto summers, so maybe I'm a bit biased. Also, if you can afford 170ish euro a night, you can be assured that the A/C should be working :)
posted by antifuse at 2:55 AM on December 19, 2006